Anti-anxiety drugs

[Scorched Soul]

Hey guys,

I was wondering if people could advise me on what legal supplements/drugs you can get that help with social anxiety issues?

I know valerian root is supposed to help, i was wondering if people could let me know what oher similar herbs/drugs are available?

I'm planning on visiting my gp to help with my issues, but just for now, to help me cope with work and stuff, i was hoping people could suggest what may work?

I actually used to use mdma to get me through the day, but i cant source it anymore, which is probably a good thing for me in the long term, since its forced me to go to the gp for help, but i need something to tie me over.

If anyone can help, that would be much appreciated.

 

[center]

MDMA to get you through the day? No wonder you have so much anxiety.

What drugs do you take? Cessation of them (esp. pot) will help with anxiety.

 

[NickyBundles]

some people find kava to be helpfull with stress and anxiety, you could also try going the non-drug route and finding healthy ways to deal with anxiety, drinking tea works well, also if you have the funds go to a local music store and find yourself a nice djembe or another type of hand drum, playing a simple beat while controlling your breathing can relax you beyond belief and really sets your mood nicley for the day. it does take some practice but if you want to just take a pill instead im not stoppin you.

 

[s1ck]

i find that nothing works except for benzos to relieve hardcore anxiety.

mdma or any stimulant is a horrible idea for the long term.

marijuana helps me to stay calm for the most part.

 

[wahwahwah420]

Benzooooooos

Pot can help but sometimes it makes things worse making you all paranoid and stuff...

 

[burn out]

i have a very serious problem with social anxiety. now i haven't tried all the herbs so i can't say whether or not they work but of the things i have tried, benzos work the best. the problem is they are not a solution (at least not for me) because they only provide temporary relief. i am also always afraid that people might wonder why there some times when i seem to have some self confidence and other times when i seem to have no self confidence (times when i'm on benzos vs times when i'm not). so while i think that benzos can help, they aren't a solution in a severe case like mine. really the best solution would be to somehow get to the root of the problem and eliminate the cause of the anxiety. however, i spent years trying to do that, one year of very intensive self therapy which consisted of no drugs, lots of meditation and praying, studying psychology and spirituality, exercise and a healthy diet in addition to constantly forcing myself into social situations and going to parties even though i REALLY hate parties. well, none of those things helped. in fact, the improvement in my social anxiety was so small compared to the amount of effort i had put into working on it that it was just plain pathetic. that's when i just gave up. i don't have a social life at all anymore because its just too painful for me.

 

[s1ck]

i too get insane social anxiety.

ive been told that i likely have an extremley excitable peripheral nervous system by a few psychiatrists.

if thats the case, then there isnt a 'root' to the problem other than that im physically different from most people. (i never suffered any trauma or anything)

benzos do not work long term, but god do they work!

 

[blueyedevil173]

Opiates always worked best for me. But coming off the bastards will give you the worst anxiety you've ever felt. Xanax (in small doses) has been beneficial to me lately (I'm w/ding from opies). My doc has suggested some long term solutions too, but I'm putting off antidepressants. I like my man parts to work.

 

[burn out]

opiates help me too but they make me too nauseas to be of any use. it's like i can talk to people, but then i have to excuse myself to go throw up lol.

 

[s1ck]

opioids actually work the best for me, too, but the side effects are just too much.

..i cant stop abusing the fuckers. opioids are TOO good to be of any use to me. i always end up nodding off somewhere i shouldnt be nodding... (class, friends/public bathrooms/street corners/etc..)

 

[Newmoonrecord]

i have a very serious problem with social anxiety. now i haven't tried all the herbs so i can't say whether or not they work but of the things i have tried, benzos work the best. the problem is they are not a solution (at least not for me) because they only provide temporary relief. i am also always afraid that people might wonder why there some times when i seem to have some self confidence and other times when i seem to have no self confidence (times when i'm on benzos vs times when i'm not). so while i think that benzos can help, they aren't a solution in a severe case like mine. really the best solution would be to somehow get to the root of the problem and eliminate the cause of the anxiety. however, i spent years trying to do that, one year of very intensive self therapy which consisted of no drugs, lots of meditation and praying, studying psychology and spirituality, exercise and a healthy diet in addition to constantly forcing myself into social situations and going to parties even though i REALLY hate parties. well, none of those things helped. in fact, the improvement in my social anxiety was so small compared to the amount of effort i had put into working on it that it was just plain pathetic. that's when i just gave up. i don't have a social life at all anymore because its just too painful for me.

did you feel like mdma helped your social anxiety?? would you be willing to try prescription drugs? with this info more help could be given. there are a lot more prescriptions out there besides benzos and ssris that can help with anxiety.

some people find relief from their anxiety from stimulants (me for one), so they might not be something to rule out right away.

kava kava is nice for lowering inhibitions, but that has already been mentioned.

have you tried group therapy? social anxiety is something that i would think would be really effectively treated by exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. like, practicing in social situations, practicing in replacing your gut reaction of fear with one of confidence and acceptance.

exercise sometimes helps boost confidence and energy. also, an intense program of anaerobic training (weight lifting) is known to increase production of various steroid hormones that have a side effect of increasing confidence and creating feelings of power. (testosterone for example) maybe this could help?? I used to feel bad in social situations but after i started a program of really intense exercise i just felt really good about myself all the time, physically and mentally, and felt much more confident in social situations because of it. The boost in brain catecholamines from exercise mimics stimulants in some ways (and we all know stimulants make people chatty and outgoing as hell).

It sounds like you're interested in working through your problems instead of medicating. (great place to start) Although your year of introspection didnt help, it doesnt mean guided psychotherapy wont. Good therapists are sometimes way more effective than just being alone with your thoughts. They have more experience in guiding people towards their problems and dealing with them than you do on your own. I do better being able to bounce ideas and thought patterns off someone else instead of just getting confused by wandering around my own mind.

I know im rambling. Hope something here helps.

 

[burn out]

yeah that's another problem with opiates. considering how much i love getting high and considering how high you can get off opiates, i am sure that if i used them, i would just end up using them for maximum pleasure (which for me means a high dose, laying in bed nodding with limited light and sound). obviously this type of behavior won't help me be social.

 

[burn out]

did you feel like mdma helped your social anxiety?? would you be willing to try prescription drugs? with this info more help could be given. there are a lot more prescriptions out there besides benzos and ssris that can help with anxiety.

i've never had the pleasure of trying pure MDMA but speed/cocaine/speedy mdma pills all helped. the problem with them is although they help me with social anxiety, they give me intense anxiety about my heart. after abusing marijuana and having panic attacks where my heart rate would go up to 250 bpm i can no longer tolerate any drug that significantly increases my heart rate. it takes me right back to the place where i am panicking about my heart rate.

the only prescription drugs ive tried besides benzos and SSRIs are remeron and a trycyclic antidepressant which i forget how to spell. no help from those things. actually the trycyclic antidepressant actually helped for about a week but because they say its supposed to take two weeks before it even starts working, i think that was just the placebo affect.

some people find relief from their anxiety from stimulants (me for one), so they might not be something to rule out right away.

kava kava is nice for lowering inhibitions, but that has already been mentioned.

have you tried group therapy? social anxiety is something that i would think would be really effectively treated by exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. like, practicing in social situations, practicing in replacing your gut reaction of fear with one of confidence and acceptance.

exercise sometimes helps boost confidence and energy. also, working out (weight lifting) is known to increase production of various steroid hormones that have a side effect of increasing confidence and creating feelings of power. (testosterone for example) maybe this could help?? I used to feel bad about social situations but after i started a program of really intense exercise i just felt really good about myself all the time, physically and mentally, and felt much more confident in social situations because of it. The boost in brain catecholamines from exercise mimics stimulants in some ways (and we all know stimulants make people chatty and outgoing as hell).

It sounds like you're interested in working out your problems. Although your year of introspection didnt help, it doesnt mean guided psychotherapy wont. Good therapists are sometimes way more effective than just being alone with your thoughts. They have more experience in guiding people towards their problems and dealing with them than you do on your own.

I know im rambling. Hope something here helps.

i tried kava kava and intense exercise, neither one worked. i think group therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy might help a little but for one, i don't want to pay for them and for two my social anxiety makes me not want to go to any kind of group related thing.

 

[s1ck]

trust me, being a junky is hell on your anxiety.

w/d is just that much more fun...

newmoonrecord: while that post was directed at burn_out, im in a similar situation, so heres my take:

stimulants help in the short term. ive abused the fuck out of amphetamines for that reason, and now its pretty pointless to even try to use an amp for anything at all, including getting high.

kava/other herbs have proved to be nearly worthless, if not completely.

exposure therapy/cognitive therapy works to some degree, but its very slow to make a difference. (it gets maybe 5% better per month... if that, for me) this kind of therapy doesnt really 'cure' my anxiety, it just teaches me how to 'mask' it so no one else can tell im miserable.

benzodiazapines are really on-mark as far as doing what i want them to with minimal adverse effects. (be careful of addction tho, its a BITCH to kick a benzo habit!!!)

 

[Scorched Soul]

re:

Wow,

I have to say, i am slightly disheartened by these replies, it sounds like there isnt really anything out there that can help.

With regards to the mdma, i have to say, my anxiety is no worse than before i ever used the stuff, its exactly the same.

I just need something that lets me not be so self-conscious and feel so inhibited all the time, i feel so anxious and nervous around people, i just cant seem to relax.

what are all the herbs that are known to reduce anxiety? i know valerian root is one, what are some others?

 

[s1ck]

chamomile tea helps me a small amount, marijuana might help or it might hurt, some people report that 5-htp helps....

I just need something that lets me not be so self-conscious and feel so inhibited all the time, i feel so anxious and nervous around people, i just cant seem to relax.

any reason youre afraid to try benzos? opioids? alcohol? ghb?

sorry, but real drugs work so much better than the 'all natural' stuff ive tried.

 

[Scorched Soul]

mdma

Mdma helped tremendously at the time for me, it really made me feel relaxed and at ease, but the problem is the effect doesnt seem to stay with me. After a few hours, the effect seems to fade, and I slowly feel my old thought processes fall back into place, the ones with the anxiety and self-doubt etc.

I also have no doubt, that taking the amounts of mdma that I did cannot have been good for me. I was taking the stuff on an almost daily basis, and I've heard that even taking it several times a month can be dangerous, so god knows what my use did to my brain! I also found its effects started becoming less pronounced, which i have heard happens with prolonged use.

 

[Scorched Soul]

chamomile tea helps me a small amount, marijuana might help or it might hurt, some people report that 5-htp helps....


any reason youre afraid to try benzos? opioids? alcohol? ghb?

sorry, but real drugs work so much better than the 'all natural' stuff ive tried.

Not afraid to try them, just not sure i can get them! Alcohol doesnt help at all, maybe even makes this worse, possibly due to is ego strengthing effects. I think my anxiety lies in my being self-conscious and so alcohol kind of makes things worse in a weird way. Mdma worked well becuase of its ego softening effect, is there anything that has that effect?

What exactly are benzo's and opioids? Whats ghb? I;ll look into kava kava.

 

[s1ck]

they are classes of drugs.

benzos are what a psychiatrist will give you for this problem. they work the best, hands down. stuff like valium, klonopin, ativan, and xanax.

opioids (commonly referred to as opiates) are drugs like vicodin, oxycodone (oxycontin) hydrocodone (vicodin) and heroin.

ghb is one of the best drugs ive ever tried, but in effect its much like alcohol (but way more fun and confusing!). if alcohol doesnt work, chances are that ghb might not either.

 

[mcwally]

alcohol lol instead of the mdma pill b4 work down a bottle of whiskey to help get thru the day....

alcohol like the others (benzos) work in the short term but like others are getting at it isn't going to help long term probably compound the problem into a substance/social addiction connection and again a habit will have to be stopped and the old anxiety will return maybe worse than b4

Im in a similar boat to descriptions in this thread about social anxiety and avoidance behaviour so as I said I would want to use alcohol/benzos for it but I know it isn't the answer, though perhaps they have some merit if they can be used in control but that is hard particularly with an irrational fears mentality about social situations or whatever :/